Conventionally, a disk cartridge has been proposed in which a cartridge accommodates a recording disk such as an optical disk or a magneto-optic disk in such a manner that the disk can rotate in the cartridge. The disk cartridge has an opening through which an optical pickup or a magnetic head can access the recording disk so as to write or read an information signal onto or from the disk.
A shutter arrangement whose shutter member can slide is attached to the disk cartridge so that the opening of the cartridge can be opened or closed with the shutter member. When the disk cartridge is not used, the shutter arrangement closes the opening for protection against intrusion by dust or fingers. When the cartridge is used, the shutter member slides away from the opening which is then opened.
A shutter opening/closing arrangement is provided for the disk apparatus, which allows the shutter member to be opened or closed in loading or removing the disk cartridge onto or from the disk apparatus.
The shutter opening/closing arrangement typically includes a shutter opening hook for allowing the shutter member to slide away from the opening which is in turn opened, and a shutter closing hook for allowing the shutter member to slide onto the opening which is in turn closed. In recent years, a small and light-weight disk apparatus is demanded. This demand currently requires a shutter opening/closing arrangement which has simple configuration but securely works while maintaining high performance.
Products using such a disk cartridge is much required to be small in size and in weight in accordance with the trend of the present times. When such a disk apparatus is used in a car, since a space for accommodating the disk apparatus is limited, the outer dimensions of the apparatus need to be minimized.
The above-described cartridge has an advantage of providing ease of use because the recording side of the disk is enclosed so as not to be typically exposed. This ease of use is a reason that the use of such a disk cartridge has been widespread. PCT Japanese National Phase Laid-Open Publication No. 7-7554 discloses a disk apparatus having an emphasis on operability in loading and removing the disk cartridge into and from the disk apparatus.
The invention disclosed the above-described publication will be explained in more detail. The publication describes an auto-loading function in which a disk cartridge is inserted halfway into the apparatus and is then automatically drawn within to a predetermined position. The operation of this auto-loading function will be explained with reference to drawings.
FIG. 25 is a plan view illustrating a disk cartridge 3 for use in a disk apparatus described in the publication. As shown in FIG. 25, an opening 535 is formed, through which an optical pickup or a magnetic head can access and can write or read information.
FIG. 26 is a perspective view illustrating an overview of a disk apparatus 500 into which the disk cartridge 503 is to be inserted. To load the disk cartridge 503 in the disk apparatus 500, the disk cartridge 503 is inserted into an insert slot 546 on the front side of the disk apparatus 500; the disk cartridge 503 pushes a door 547 and enters into a holder 504; when inserted halfway, the disk cartridge 503 and the holder 504 are integrally driven to translate in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction along guide grooves 519 and 520 formed in a frame member 501.
A small and light-weighted disk apparatus for the disk cartridge is required particularly for cars where the accommodation space limits the outer dimensions of the disk apparatus. Furthermore, the disk recording and reproduction should be stable against vibration. A disk apparatus which is carried in a car needs to maintain its quality under rigorous conditions such as user's rough handling.
The above-described disk cartridge which accommodates a recording disk is easy for a user to handle since the recording surface of the disk is enclosed and thus not exposed. The outer surface of the cartridge provides an area for a label which allows consumers to use it in their own way.
Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 5-1006 discloses a downsized disk apparatus.
The object of the invention described in the publication is to facilitate control of movement of a movable support and to reduce the cost. In the disk apparatus, the direction, in which a case accommodating a disk moves in loading or removing, is limited to one direction, and an optical pickup, a spindle motor and the like are also movable, thereby downsizing the disk apparatus.
Hereinafter, the invention described in the above-described publication will be described.
In FIG. 27, a case 610 accommodating a disk is moved in a Y1 or Y2 direction. A movable base 603 carrying an optical pickup can be swung with respect to a fixed base 602 by a base pin 642a provided at an end of the base 603.
FIGS. 28 and 29 show a side view of the disk apparatus shown in FIG. 27 from the left side thereof. An elevator member 644 is moved in the right or left direction of FIGS. 28 and 29. This movement allows cam grooves formed in the resin plates 651a and 651b to move the base pins 642a and 642b upward or downward, so that the optical pickup is moved from a standby position to a play position or vice versa.
Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 8-45159 discloses a conventional shutter opening/closing arrangement having a simple configuration which will be explained below.
FIG. 30 illustrates a cartridge 705 accommodating a disk in such a manner that the disk can rotate in the cartridge. The cartridge 705 includes an opening 723 for a magnetic head on the upper side of the cartridge. A portion of the signal recording surface of a disk is exposed through the opening 723. The cartridge 705 also includes an opening 722 for an optical pickup on the lower side of the cartridge at a position corresponding to the opening 723. The opening 723 for a magnetic head and the opening 722 for an optical pickup can be opened and closed by a shutter member 706. The shutter member 706 includes an upper cover plate and a lower cover plate corresponding to the openings 723 and 722, respectively, and facing each other in parallel; and a supported plate for linking one end of the upper cover plate and one end of the lower cover plate. These three plates are integrally made of a thin metal plate. The supported plate can slide along a guide groove 707 formed on a side of the cartridge 705.
In FIGS. 31 and 32, a rotating member 710 made of synthesized resin or the like is biased in the counterclockwise direction around a support hole 757. The rotating member 710 has a shutter hook 760 at the front end thereof used in closing the openings, the hook extending toward the cartridge 705; and a rotation controlling portion 761 extending toward the cartridge 705 at the rear end thereof. The hook 760 and the portion 761 are integrally combined.
Then, the operation of the shutter opening/closing arrangement will be explained below.
When the cartridge 705 is being inserted in a direction shown by arrow B1 in FIG. 31, the shutter closing hook 760 is initially positioned apart from the shutter member 706 on the right side of the cartridge 705. When the cartridge 705 is inserted, the cartridge 705 strikes the rotation controlling portion 761 so that the rotating member 710 rotates in a direction shown in FIG. 31 by an arrow D, allowing the shutter closing hook 760 to snap and engage into a shutter closing hole 708. Then the cartridge 705 further goes inside the disk apparatus when a shutter opening hook 759 strikes the front end of the supported plate and then prevents the shutter member 706 from moving further while still allowing the cartridge 705 to continue to move, so that the openings 722 and 723 are opened.
When the cartridge 705 is to be removed from the disk apparatus, the engagement of the shutter closing hook 760 with the shutter closing hole 708 prevents the shutter member 706 from moving while allowing the cartridge 705 to continue to move, so that the openings 722 and 723 are closed.
As the cartridge 705 is drawn, the contacting and pressing of the cartridge 705 and the rotation controlling portion 761 are released. The rotating member 710 is rotated by the bias force to return to the initial position so that the openings 722 and 723 are closed.
The returning of the rotating member 710 to the initial position releases the engagement of the shutter closing hook 760 with the shutter opening hole 708, allowing the cartridge 705 to be removed from the disk apparatus.
The disk cartridge driving arrangement described in PCT Japanese National Phase Laid-Open Publication No. 7-7554 has the following disadvantages.
Initially, since the holder moves horizontally as well as vertically, the height dimension of the disk apparatus is great. Moreover, the holder needs to be moved without getting horizontally snagged. This leads inevitably to a complicated arrangement, resulting in a large number of required parts.
When the cartridge is being inserted into the disk apparatus and there is slide movement between an outer side of the cartridge and a disk apparatus side member, if there are burrs and the like on the outer sides of the cartridge, even if they are small, the cartridge may get snagged in the disk apparatus.
The disk apparatus described in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 5-1006 has the following disadvantages. The size of the elevating member for driving the movable base is great. The method of driving the member is also complicated. The number of sliding portions is great, so that the number of parts is increased, and wear and the like occur in the parts, which leads to poor endurance.
The positioning accuracy of the movable base depends on the outer diameter of the base pin and the width of the cam grooves provided on the resin plate. Some amount of clearance is required between the pin and the edge of the groove. This clearance degrades the positioning accuracy of the movable base.
Conventional techniques other than those described in the above publications have the following disadvantages.
The positioning of the pickup requires a high level of accuracy in moving in the radial direction of a disk after the pickup has been placed in the play position. A means for holding the pickup typically includes a biasing means such as a spring so as to absorb a pickup rattle. Some apparatuses write or read data onto or from a rotating disk in a constant linear velocity (CLV) mode. In this mode, the linear speed of a track which the pickup currently writes or reads data onto or from is constant regardless of whether the pickup is positioned on the outer or inner region of the disk. The constant linear track speed requires fast rotation when the pickup is tracking the inner region, and slow rotation when the pickup is tracking the outer region.
In the disk apparatuses which operate in the CLV mode, the inner region of the disk has greater vibration caused by the disk rotation than the outer region. It is believed that the bias force should be increased for the pickup when tracking the inner region. Conventional disk apparatuses have not taken this into account.
Conventional disk apparatuses have not taken measures against user's rough and erroneous handlings such as inserting a disk cartridge with great force or in a wrong way.
A conventional disk apparatus uses a holder as a means for carrying a disk cartridge. The holder is typically fabricated by bending a metal sheet in such a manner that all the sides or at least left and right and upper sides of the cartridge are covered with the metal sheet.
As described above, users may stick labels on the label area of the cartridge in various ways. The labels may be provided by the users as they like.
In the disk apparatus using the holder having the above-described conventional configuration, when a thick label or multiple labels are stuck on the cartridge and the cartridge is left in the disk apparatus for a long time, the label may become warped. Such a warped label may get snagged at the slot of the disk apparatus when the user tries to remove it, so that the cartridge is not removed or the label remains alone inside the disk apparatus.
The shutter opening/closing arrangement described in Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 8-45159 has the following disadvantages.
When the cartridge is being inserted into the disk apparatus, the timing in which the rotation of the rotating member may occurs against bias force thereof before the shutter closing hook meets the shutter closing hole and the timing in which the shutter closing hook and the shutter closing hole face each other are compared. When the former occurs earlier than the latter, the hook strikes a portion other than the hole, resulting in undue stress which is likely to forcedly deform the rotating member which strains the rotating member. When the latter occurs earlier than the former, because of random positions where the shutter opening hook is settled, undue stress which is likely to forcedly deform the rotating member results on the rotating member.
There are similar problems when the cartridge is removed from the disk apparatus. When the contacting and pressing of the rotation controlling portion and the cartridge is released and the rotating member returns by bias force to the original position before the shutter member completely closes the openings, the cartridge with the unclosed openings is removed outside the disk apparatus. When the shutter member completely closes the openings before the returning of the rotating member to the initial position, the shutter closing hole catches on the shutter closing hook so that the cartridge cannot be removed from the disk apparatus.
The rotation of the rotating member is controlled by the contacting and pressing of the rotation controlling portion and the cartridge. Specifically, the contacting and pressing is regulated by the round-shape portion of a corner of the cartridge rather than the straight-shaped portion of a side of the cartridge. The shape of the corner is not strictly specified by the standard for the cartridge. The dimensions of the corner vary among manufacturers. Therefore, the above-described problems may arise in some cartridges.
When a cartridge with the slightly opened shutter member caused by user's accidental handling is inserted into the disk apparatus, there is undue stress on the above-described shutter opening/closing arrangement, resulting in awkward insertion.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a small-size disk apparatus including a disk loading arrangement having a simple configuration in which a cartridge is highly reliably loaded into the disk apparatus, a disk does not get snagged in loading, and the disk loading arrangement securely works while avoiding parts being broken in misoperation.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a disk apparatus in which even when a label stuck on a disk cartridge is warped, the disk cartridge can be removed without the label getting snagged on the slot of the disk apparatus.
Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a disk apparatus including a shutter opening/closing arrangement having a simple configuration in which the shutter opening/closing arrangement can be produced at lower cost, has a high level of reliability, and securely works against misoperation.